SusExp 2009 Day 7: Loch Brittle to Loch Bracadale (31km)

Waking up well rested, I found Sam already up and about. He managed to get most of his clothes dry the night before, but still needed to get more done, so after a breakfast of the usual tasty uncooked oats, he headed up to the hostel, and I took the opportunity to fix a few things on my boat and contact local suppliers.

Loch Brittle was a busy campsite – I guess it was peak season. A great location for hikers bagging their Munros on the west side of the Cuillin, I noticed countless groups heading off up into the mist covered summits. After going to the shop to buy cord, fixing my boat, making a kit to slide the boat down the shore with one person, using plastic bottles from the recycling bin, and breaking it, then using full water bottles as rollers (patent pending) it was lunchtime before I knew it!

We had some bread with tasty bramble jam (given to use from Vanilla Skye, produce in Staffin) and/or cheese, then got on our way in the early afternoon.

One source of comfort for me was being on the water paddling in the right direction. Another source of comfort was the simplicity of life, something I love about sea kayaking. Everything else is just external to the true joy of sea kayaking. When I’m on the water with just my paddle to get me through situations, my mind is free to wonder through any thoughts it wants, and my senses are free to focus on the surrounding natural world and become focussed on the here and now – it’s can be pure bliss and I often have my most inspired thoughts while paddling.

We continued up the coast, enjoying the following wind. We could see the Loch Bracadale in the distance, and Idrigil point to the west, leading up to Neist Point (tomorrow’s challenge). As we paddled, I caught site of a massive too bird…wasn’t sure at first, but realised, it was definitely too big for a Golden Eagle, ‘must be a sea eagle’ I thought to myself – what a beautiful bird, soaring and gliding, dominant along the coastline, until the black back gulls start to pester it. I’m sure the eagle would win in a fight, but just didn’t have to patience to deal with the gulls.

We paddled and watched it for a while, it flew on, we followed, then it turned in the other direction. We carried on, shortly after, we spotted another, not so big this time. Same again, it flew away, we followed, then it turned. As if that wasn’t enough, we then saw a third sea eagle! This was surely a once in a lifetime experience (for me at least)…I’ve never seen more than one sea eagle at the same time, so for me, it felt very special. We paddled on.

Rounding the last headland before Loch Bracadale, I heard the modern beeping that meant I had a phone signal and got a text. ‘Can you phone!! Thought you weren’t arriving till Tuesday!’ I didn’t know the number, but I hoped it was Carole Inglis, who owns and manages Skye Fudge and had also very kindly offered us a bed in her house for the night. I tried phoning, and got through. I tried to be an assuming and told her our plan and that we would be happy to camp on the shore (she’d just come back from holiday), thank thankfully, she said we could stay – fantastic. A nice thought that we’d be able to sleep in a warm comfy bed tonight, we’d be able to sit on soft seat, we’d have a roof over our head that we could stand up under – although we hadn’t been away from civilisation for too long, it’s amazing how much you miss it (especially if you’re sea kayak camping).

We carried on happy in the knowledge of the above and arrived at Harlosh slipway around 9.30pm, Carole arrived to pick us up, and we went to her house and met her husband Jim. Carole showed us where we could sleep, and we even had our own living room and kitchen in what used to be a self-catering B&B. It must so much more than we had expected and/or would have been happy with – personally I would have been happy with some floor space in the living room. We got some stuff sorted, cooked our dinner on the electric cooker (electricity coming from the nearby Edinbane wind farm), and talked into the night about the following day’s plan – to get round Neist point if possible. I looked at the yachtsman’s pilot for the area and checked out tide times, so we knew when the south- and north-going streams would begin.

The dinner was a story in itself, but to be short, we had mouldy lorn sausage (not too mouldy), with potatoes and Stornoway black pudding. I also still had some rhubarb from the garden in Barra which I felt we had to eat now, so I boiled it with some water, sugar and honey. It was sickly sweet, so I left it to the morning.

Food diary:

• Breakfast: uncooked oats with water;
• Lunch: bread; oatcakes; cheese; butter; jam;
• Dinner: lorn sausage; boiled potatoes; any other fresh veg we still had.